No More Goodbyes
by kammad42
Summary: The light shone like a bright beam in the middle of the night. It was calling to her, yet, she rejected it. She didn't want to leave yet. She slowly backed away in the darkness until the black enveloped her completely. Then she opened her eyes. What if Beth didn't die in the MSF? AU Coda fix.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi! This is obviously a Coda fix which starts off in the actual episode of Coda. If you're new to me, I have a ton of other stories that I write. If you follow me andd know my work, HI! Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this new story. The chapters will probably be 1.5K to 2K words per chapter. PLEASE REVIEW, FAVORITE, AND FOLLOW! HAPPY READING! :)**

"_I hate goodbyes." _

… "_Me, too."_

Beth carefully wheeled Carol down the hallway. All of the officers surrounding her made her incredibly tense as she gripped the handles on the wheelchair so hard that her knuckles were white. The scissors in her cast felt so much heavier than they really were. The cool from the metal touching her skin made a shivers run unconsciously down her spine as she looked ahead with her head held high.

The rounded the corner to where her family was waiting behind a door. That was all that was separating them. A lousy door.

As soon as Beth saw her family, a huge weight had lifted off of her shoulders. She counted everyone there, but quickly wondered where everyone else was. Where was Maggie? Where was Glenn? Those questions in her mind just drove her further down the tiny hospital hallway. Her eyes landed on Daryl and her mind slightly wandered off into an area of when it was just them together after the prison. She was extremely relieved to see that he was definitely okay, though Carol had still reassured her.

Daryl met her gaze and gave her a small nod of reassurance. She gave him the tiniest smile that she could muster up in a situation as dire as this. When Beth heard Dawn speak into her radio on her shoulder, her heart started beating even faster when the big door opened and her family walked in to get Carol and her out of the wretched hospital. She was just waiting to feel the cool breeze hit her face as she walked out to freedom.

"They haven't been harmed." Rick spoke. Beth could remember that gruff voice anywhere. His eyes were cold, though. She remembered how warm they were when he spoke to her all the way back at the farm. It had been a while since she had seen that.

"Where's Lamson?" Dawn spoke beside Beth and Carol.

"Rodders got him. We saw it go down." another officer spoke. Beth had recognized him from around the hospital, but she couldn't put a name with the face. He had always ignored her, and she steered clear of any other cops around. Beth also wasn't familiar with the "Lamson" they were talking about, but she didn't care much, either. It wouldn't matter in a few minutes when they were out of there.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that." Beth almost scoffed, but held it back for her and Carol's sake. "He was one of the good guys." Dawn narrowed her eyes slightly at the group. "One for yours for one of mine."

"Alright," Rick grunted out. He glanced at Daryl, who pushed forward the male officer.

Someone took Carol's wheelchair from Beth's grip as they did the first part of the trade-off. Beth found herself wanting something back in her grip to center her to the earth at that moment. She just took a deep breath and squeezed her fists closed while she waited.

She watched as Daryl wheeled Carol over to Tyreese and Rick pushed forward the other hostage. At that moment, Beth almost jumped as she felt a rough hand push her forward. At a few steps, she was in front of Rick and the trade was done. She let go of most of the tension in her shoulders as Rick embraced her shortly before gently waving her forward.

Beth immediately walked over to Daryl, who placed a warm hand at the top of her back. It made her relax even more. She was finally getting out after what felt like years. She shot him a quick glance as they walked forward towards the door.

"I'm glad we could work things out," Dawn said from behind them.

"Yeah." Rick grunted out, before turning around and following his group. Just as Beth thought that everything was done, something in her mind screamed that something would go wrong. She tried to push it down as much as she could, but it stood out so much. She knew at Dawn's next few words that Beth wasn't wrong about it.

"Now I just need Noah." The words hit Beth like a brick. The whole group seemed to freeze, as if knowing something was going to go wrong. The hairs on the back of Beth's neck raised in anticipation as her whole body locked back into that tense feeling she had the past few weeks. "And then you can leave."

Rick turned around sharply to face the hospital crew and Beth turned and stepped forward as well. She felt Daryl's presence right next to her. "That wasn't part of the deal." Beth stepped up closer to Rick, standing by him. She was terrified of what this would lead to on the inside, but on the outside she hid it well.

"Noah was my ward," Dawn explained. "Beth took his place and I'm losing her, so I need him back." One of the hostages spoke up behind her with a pleading voice to stop, but Dawn just cut her off, not giving up on her statement. "My officers put their lives on the line to find him. One of them died."

Beth was staring ahead at Dawn with narrowed eyes before Daryl cut in front of her vision, pushing Noah back. "He ain't staying." Daryl spoke up. Beth almost looked over at the man, remembering his rough voice clearly in her mind.

"He's one of mine. You have no claim on him." Dawn argued smoothly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Rick stepped forward a few steps more, his hand unconsciously reaching for his gun on his belt. It went surprisingly unnoticed by the hospital patients and crew.

"The boy wants to go home, so you have no claim on him." Rick argued validly. Beth suddenly wished she had some sort of weapon besides the scissors in her cast on her arm and the small amount of courage that she had brought out from deep inside of her. She felt almost useless standing there behind Rick, nonetheless.

"Well, then we don't have a deal." Dawn protested.

"The deal is done." Rick almost exclaimed, reminding Beth of the hardness that he had developed.

"It's okay," Noah spoke, hobbling to the front. Beth had almost forgotten about him in the rush and feeling of getting to go back home. She watched reluctantly as he stepped forward and reached behind his back to get the gun from his waistband.

"No." Rick stated. Beth was right along with him. Rick stepped up next to Noah, shaking his head. Noah kept arguing, though.

"I gotta do it." Noah spoke. He took the gun out of his waistband and reluctantly handed it over to Rick, before crossing over the invisible line between safe and danger.

Beth mustered up everything she could inside and spoke in the smallest whisper. "It's not okay," she whispered to nobody in particular. She thought he had been free. She never would have agreed to this if she knew that Noah would have to stay.

"It's settled." Dawn said. Noah limped forward to the cop, his leg dragging him back.

Beth didn't realize that she had done this until she felt her feet pushing forward. Her whole body was almost numb. "Wait!" She yelled out. She wanted a goodbye from her only friend there, even if it was in front of everybody and was 30 seconds.

Nonetheless, Beth wrapped her small arms around Noah's shoulder blades, squeezing him tightly. "It's okay," Noah said in her ear. She tried to believe that the harder she hugged him, the more strength he would gain from staying here.

"I knew you'd be back." With those words, Beth felt something snap inside of her. She was done being the weak little girl. She wanted to show Dawn that she wasn't weak. She wasn't going to leave without getting the last word. She released Noah from her tight grip and took a step forward, anger fueling through her.

"I get it now." The blonde stated, standing closer to Dawn. She was incredibly aware of the scissors under her cast. Her fingers reached inside of it and slowly pulled out the blade while staring eye-to-eye with Dawn. Next thing she knew, the scissors were out of her hand and into Dawn's shoulder blade.

A single shot rang out. That's all it took for Beth to fall backwards, her eyes squeezed tightly as she wished for the horrible pain to leave her stomach. Her hands went down to her abdomen where the bullet flew into. Her ears were ringing and all she could see were her eyelids.

Beth thought that she heard her name get called. One more gunshot followed right after that, and Beth braced herself for the pain to come. But, it never did. Instead, she lay with her back against the cold, tile floor, gasping for breath.

She felt warm hands grasp her arms, and she blinked open her eyes to see the person. She was relieved to see that it was just her comrade, Daryl. Somewhere deep inside of herself, she forced her voice out of the thickness of her throat. "Daryl," she gasped. "It hurts."

Daryl's face looked completely pained. He felt horrible that he couldn't do anything. That was his worst fear. Not being able to do anything while his loved ones died in his arms.

Beth heard yelling down the hall, though it was very muffled. She felt her eyelids get exceptionally heavy. She wanted to close her eyes, though she knew what it leaded to. The heaviness overpowered her, though. The last thing she saw was the Daryl's face hovering over hers before darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello, my people! I'm really happy with how this last chapter turned out! I'm really excited for this! I apologize for the time between the chapters. The time between each chapter won't be as choppy as this. PLEASE REVIEW, FOLLOW, AND FAVORITE! I LOVE THOSE THREE THINGS! Anyway, HAPPY READING! HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER!**

Beth felt a strange pull. It was like a rope was tied around her waist, but she couldn't look down to see if there was anything there. Her eyes were glued on a spec of light ahead. The rope pulled her closer towards it, as if she had no choice but to go there.

But, Beth didn't want to go to it. She was afraid, almost, of the uncertainty that it holds. She resisted against the rope pulling her, and she was winning. She felt herself walking backwards until the darkness completely engulfed her. Then she opened her eyes, and the darkness disappeared.

When Beth's eyes snapped open, a new light seemed to appear instead. One that she welcomed. The sun. She breathed in deeply, taking in the smell of hospital. She blinked a bit, as her eyes were still droopy. Beth looked down at herself, and found that she was wrapped tightly in a bundle of blankets on a hospital bed. She almost had a mini panic attack as she remembered what had happened.

She heard the beeping of the heart monitor to her left as she felt her heart pumping fast inside of her chest. Something warm touched Beth's hand and her head snapped to the side to see it. She instantly relaxed when she saw it was just Daryl, sitting in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs.

Concern was etched all over Daryl's face and Beth was almost surprised because of it. Though she was only a little bit awake, she was very aware of his hand resting over hers on the rail of the bed.

Beth cleared her throat and swallowed, barely soothing the roughness in her throat. "What happened?" She spoke. Daryl had expected that question, yet he felt like he couldn't breathe. Relief overwhelmed him when she had woken up, and it was still there in a huge amount.

He cleared his throat as well and dropped his hand to his side before standing and striding across the room. He opened the door and yelled down the hall. "She's up! Can somebody get some water?!" He yelled out before standing back fully into the room.

Beth shot him a grateful smile as he looked back at her that almost melted his insides. His brain was still processing that she was okay. That she was safe.

"You didn't have to do that." She told him. Her voice was incredibly rough, that he knew she would need some so she could talk.

Daryl strode over to the chair again next to the bed and leaned forward towards it. "Dawn's dead. She tried to kill ya', but she didn't. We came back to get you and Carol, but it went pretty bad. You tried to kill the chick, she shot ya' in the stomach, and we took care of it." Daryl explained. It was really the only way he could explain the events.

Beth looked down at the wound in her abdomen. Of course, she couldn't see it through the blankets, but she was suddenly very aware of the pain in her stomach.

Her eyes flashed towards Daryl with about a thousand questions in them. "How is everybody? Maggie? Glenn? Judith?" Daryl's mouth opened to speak, but the door opening interrupted him before he could.

Maggie walked in with a tall glass of water in her hand. Her eyes immediately watered at the sight of her little sister lying in bed. Beth managed a weak smile at her elder sibling, but failed. Maggie walked forward almost like she was being careful. Like the whole thing was too good to be true.

She handed Beth the water and sat on the edge of the bed. Beth put the glass up to her lips and gulped down the water. The coolness and smoothness of it automatically relieved her throat and she felt it feeling much better.

Beth sat the glass on the table next to her right after she gulped the whole thing down. Maggie looked at her like a puppy with her eyes still watering. "Maggie. "She spoke. With that one word, her sister practically launched her arms around Beth, still being careful of her gunshot wound.

Beth closed her eyes and welcomed the wonderful feeling of being in her sister's arms again. She was completely relaxed before she heard Daryl start to stand and walk towards the door. Her eyes shot open, but Maggie didn't notice. Her head was buried in Beth's neck and sobs were almost coming out.

Beth looked at Daryl pleadingly as his hand closed around the doorknob. He was about to leave to let the sisters have their time together, but when he saw the look she gave him, he stopped in his tracks and went to sit back down. She felt extremely safe with him around, and she was scared whenever she was in this hospital.

Maggie pulled back and wiped her tears off. "I'm sorry that I wasn't with you when you woke up, Bethy. We didn't think you would wake up so soon. I missed you so much, Bethy." Beth's heart warmed every time her older sister called her by her nickname.

Beth got guests all throughout the day, and Daryl barely leaved. Maggie stayed in there for quite some time, too, but not as much. Beth had almost felt like something was off with Maggie. She almost acted regretful around her, as if she believed that everything that happened was her fault.

At some point, Rick came in. He was happy to see Beth was alive and seeming to do okay. He gave her a warm smile when he walked in. What he said next was not very comforting.

"We're going to need to leave soon."

Daryl almost shot up out of his seat. "What? She just woke up! None of this group is fit to go anywhere or do anything yet! 'Specially Beth!" Beth placed a soft hand on Daryl's forearm which had been hanging loosely by his side.

Beth looked over at Rick. "When?" She asked. She silently pleaded him in her mind to say something other than that day. Unfortunately, he didn't hear her.

"Today. It's not safe here, or even around here." Beth's shoulders sagged with that statement. She wasn't sure if she could even walk, let alone start to get back on the road already. But, she would just have to tough it out.

At Daryl's obvious, but unspoken, outrage, Rick's sharp eyes turned to him. "Daryl." His eyes snapped to Rick's. "Can I speak to you for a minute?" He asked. Daryl shot Beth a look before walking out of the room with Daryl.

"We need to leave here." Rick stated firmly. Daryl opened his mouth to object, but Rick interrupted him. "These people want nothing to do with us. The other police officers are making threats that if we don't leave soon, they'll force us out."

Daryl growled impatiently and looked down at the ground. "What are we gonna do about Beth and Eugene?" He asked Rick. They had brought in the pretend scientist to one of the hospital rooms. He woke up the day when they got there after a few hours.

"You and Maggie obviously can take care of Beth. Rosita and Abraham have responsibility for Eugene. We can take care of them and keep them out of trouble. Simple." Rick placed his hands on his belt as if daring Daryl to argue.

A huge sigh escaped Daryl as he looked back into the hospital room that held Beth. She was staring at a picture on the wall with her eyebrows drawn together in confusion. Daryl looked back at Rick. "Fine. We leave today. Gimme a few hours, though." Rick nodded before walking back down the hallway.

Daryl stepped back into the hospital room. In a few hours, they would be on the road again. And he was staying with Beth the whole time.


End file.
